Drug That Killed Prince Is Making Mexican Cartels Richer, U.S. Says

[xht]

The drug that killed Prince has become a favorite of Mexican cartels because it is extremely potent, popular in the United States — and immensely profitable, American officials say.

Law enforcement and border authorities in the United States warn that Mexican cartels are using their own labs to produce the drug, fentanyl, as well as receiving shipments from China. Then the cartels distribute the substance through their vast smuggling networks to meet rising American demand for opiates and pharmaceuticals.

“It is really the next migration of the cartels in terms of making profit,” said Jack Riley, acting deputy administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “This goes to the heart of the marketing genius of the cartels. They saw this coming.”

It is still unclear how Prince, who the authorities say died of an overdose of fentanyl in April, obtained the drug. Doctors can prescribe fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, for cancer patients and for palliative care, including end of life treatment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/world/americas/drug-that-killed-prince-is-making-mexican-cartels-richer-us-says.html

[Fortify]

Well, until more of these drugs are legalised and taxed the cartels will continue to make money. The war on drugs, is essentially America fighting a war against itself. If the demand is there, people will find a way to buy these drugs while jumping through all sorts of hoops to get it.

[Betwrong]

Well, until more of these drugs are legalised and taxed the cartels will continue to make money. The war on drugs, is essentially America fighting a war against itself. If the demand is there, people will find a way to buy these drugs while jumping through all sorts of hoops to get it.

I agree with you. War on drugs is the reason of many deaths, from the war itself and from the poor quality drugs people buy because they can't just go to a pharmacy and buy the controlled stuff of high quality.

[alyssa85]

Well, until more of these drugs are legalised and taxed the cartels will continue to make money. The war on drugs, is essentially America fighting a war against itself. If the demand is there, people will find a way to buy these drugs while jumping through all sorts of hoops to get it.

If it was legalised it could be taxed too. Nice source of revenue for govts. Plus all the attraction that comes from doing something illegal would go away and users would drop.

[bryant.coleman]

The reason why people go after these dangerous drugs (such as Fentanyl, Krokodil, and Heroin) is that the soft-drugs (such as cannabis) are banned in the United States. If the US government legalizes marijuana, then it will reduce the consumption of hard-drugs by a large amount. Right now, only the big three (Drug cartels, bankers, and big pharma) are benefiting out of the war on drugs. 

[techgeek]

The reason why people go after these dangerous drugs (such as Fentanyl, Krokodil, and Heroin) is that the soft-drugs (such as cannabis) are banned in the United States. If the US government legalizes marijuana, then it will reduce the consumption of hard-drugs by a large amount. Right now, only the big three (Drug cartels, bankers, and big pharma) are benefiting out of the war on drugs. 

Or the other option, if cannabis was taxed like tobacco we would actual see some tax money coming instead of rising property tax.

Or other forms of tax that can sponge the state so wont bleed as much. But I feel the drug war will always go on.

As for the pharmaceutical companies - they scalp by charging certain coverage limit based on demand of the drug used, so thats nothing we can do about as well.

[bryant.coleman]

The reason why people go after these dangerous drugs (such as Fentanyl, Krokodil, and Heroin) is that the soft-drugs (such as cannabis) are banned in the United States. If the US government legalizes marijuana, then it will reduce the consumption of hard-drugs by a large amount. Right now, only the big three (Drug cartels, bankers, and big pharma) are benefiting out of the war on drugs. 

Or the other option, if cannabis was taxed like tobacco we would actual see some tax money coming instead of rising property tax.

Or other forms of tax that can sponge the state so wont bleed as much. But I feel the drug war will always go on.

As for the pharmaceutical companies - they scalp by charging certain coverage limit based on demand of the drug used, so thats nothing we can do about as well.

Exactly!

If alcohol, painkillers containing opioids, and tobacco can be regulated and taxed, then cannabis can also be regulated. Colorado has taken a brave step in this regard, and we are already witnessing a steep decline in the drug-related felonies. The Californian authorities need to learn something from their counterparts in Colorado...

[xht]

The reason why people go after these dangerous drugs (such as Fentanyl, Krokodil, and Heroin) is that the soft-drugs (such as cannabis) are banned in the United States. If the US government legalizes marijuana, then it will reduce the consumption of hard-drugs by a large amount. Right now, only the big three (Drug cartels, bankers, and big pharma) are benefiting out of the war on drugs. 

Or the other option, if cannabis was taxed like tobacco we would actual see some tax money coming instead of rising property tax.

Or other forms of tax that can sponge the state so wont bleed as much. But I feel the drug war will always go on.

As for the pharmaceutical companies - they scalp by charging certain coverage limit based on demand of the drug used, so thats nothing we can do about as well.

Exactly!

If alcohol, painkillers containing opioids, and tobacco can be regulated and taxed, then cannabis can also be regulated. Colorado has taken a brave step in this regard, and we are already witnessing a steep decline in the drug-related felonies. The Californian authorities need to learn something from their counterparts in Colorado...

So are you agree if cannabis or marijuana get legalized in whole the world so anyone can easy get a weed when he/she traveled.

[bryant.coleman]

Meanwhile, Marijuana has curative properties for cancer, and it's still taking too long for a sane drug policy to be enacted.

I don't know whether this information is true or not. But I am sure about one thing. If we replace tobacco with marijuana, then there will be 2 million less cancer cases (and 1.6 million deaths) every year in this world. That is because marijuana does not cause lung cancer, while tobacco is the primary reason behind it.

[Masha Sha]

Meanwhile, Marijuana has curative properties for cancer, and it's still taking too long for a sane drug policy to be enacted.

I don't know whether this information is true or not. But I am sure about one thing. If we replace tobacco with marijuana, then there will be 2 million less cancer cases (and 1.6 million deaths) every year in this world. That is because marijuana does not cause lung cancer, while tobacco is the primary reason behind it.

People should only be allowed to eat individualized Soylent green and drink water. It will save untold precious lives and bring harmony and peace on earth. Managing other people live is the duty of everyone! If your neighbor can't control himself we the community have to do it for him.

[Masha Sha]

Managing other people live is the duty of everyone! If your neighbor can't control himself we the community have to do it for him.

This is goodthink, Citizen.

Dear you,

Do you think it would be possible to increase the number of our people I manage? Following such praise it seems normal that I gain more responsibilities towards the community. Evidently I am sad to leave my low level accommodation but I with regrets will accept to settle in the higher responsabilities quarters. I am not sure I will be able to settle in such luxuries, but I was told it's the curse of my new status.

For the collective!

[DarkThrones]

The reason why people go after these dangerous drugs (such as Fentanyl, Krokodil, and Heroin) is that the soft-drugs (such as cannabis) are banned in the United States. If the US government legalizes marijuana, then it will reduce the consumption of hard-drugs by a large amount. Right now, only the big three (Drug cartels, bankers, and big pharma) are benefiting out of the war on drugs. 

Extremely misinformed post. Legalizing "soft" drugs does not make a culture stop using different drugs. Weed isn't even a soft drug, you're high for a couple hours. Just because you don't grow "physically" dependent on a drug doesn't make it soft. The #1 drug in the world is caffeine and even it has physical dependence. Police and jails profit huge from the war as well.

[enhu]

Well, until more of these drugs are legalised and taxed the cartels will continue to make money. The war on drugs, is essentially America fighting a war against itself. If the demand is there, people will find a way to buy these drugs while jumping through all sorts of hoops to get it.

If it was legalised it could be taxed too. Nice source of revenue for govts. Plus all the attraction that comes from doing something illegal would go away and users would drop.

30% tax still won't hurt the drug business. the big pharms can manufacture these stuff too.

on the other side of the globe is totally different. police and bounty hunters are killing drug lords and pushers. Philippine President elect is on the war path.

[protokol]

Well, until more of these drugs are legalised and taxed the cartels will continue to make money. The war on drugs, is essentially America fighting a war against itself. If the demand is there, people will find a way to buy these drugs while jumping through all sorts of hoops to get it.

I agree with you. War on drugs is the reason of many deaths, from the war itself and from the poor quality drugs people buy because they can't just go to a pharmacy and buy the controlled stuff of high quality.

Good posts, the point here is that criminalising users of drugs like these is literally killing people. The USA is seeing an unprecedented rise in deaths due to opiate OD at the moment: a 200% increase in the rate of overdose deaths involving opioids year 2000-2014

Fentanyl itself is an interesting (yet morbid) development in the drug war, because it is far more potent (50-100x) than heroin and is easily available and very cheap. That means that it is used to cut heroin, and even sold masquerading as other drugs such as Xanax. There is a huge problem right now with people making fake Xanax pills that contain Fentanyl, designed for the black market.

The problem is that someone could easily OD on Fentanyl, especially if they think they're just taking a Xanax pill. More victims of the war on drugs.

The vast majority of drug related deaths are due to contaminated or fake product - Legalise, tax, regulate the supply, educate the people.